Hook and cleat combination



June 1959 5. cs. LOPEZ HOOK AND CLEAT COMBINATION Filed MarCh 1, 1954 INVENTOR. Sera'fin G. Lopez BY flw IITTORNZ'Y boatswains chair or scaffold so that United States Patent HOOK AND CLEAT COMBINATION Serafin G. Lopez, New York, N.Y. Application March 1, 1954, Serial No. 413,113

7 -1 Claim. (Cl. 24-423 The present invention relates generally to a hook and cleat combination for use in supporting scaffolds, boatswains chair, pad eyes on ships, or the like and for snubbing the supporting .rope or line of associating hoisting tackle. The invention is an improvement of my copending application Serial No. 313,925, filed October 9, 1952, now abandoned 5 It is an object of theipresent invention to provide a fitting for connecting the boatswains chair, scaffold, or pad eyes on ships, to supporting tackle or other supporting means, which fitting includes a hook having preferably an oval groove relatively wide in the center part of the hook and narrow in the extreme parts of the hook to adapt the hook for association with different sizes of eyes to be connected therewith. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hook per'se having a substantially oval shaped groove wide inthe center partof the hook and narrow a its ends for use in connection with diiferent sizes of eyes to be connected thereto.

It isstill another object of the present invention to provide a hook which may form a combination with a cleat orfor use as an independent element, the'hook havi'nga groovewherein the centerpart of the groove is wide and the outer parts are narrow .to accommodate different sizes of eyesand yet, be capable of substantial-ly preventing-rotation-oftheeye or s wivelli'ng thereof when in use, the eye being used as an instrumentality for supporting a boatswain s chair, scafifoldfor otherdevice. It is yet another objectof the present invention to provide; standard hooks with the aforementioned grooves to enable holding of wood blocks audtopes of tackle in one position 'to' facilitate manipulation by the operator.

Yet another ob ct of'the present invention is to providein -a hook acompoundoval groove to preventthe pose a fitting is provided, including a cleat having a portion for securing the free end of the tackle rope thereto for holding the rope and a hook portion to which the eye associated with the chair or scaffold is suspended, and it is this hook which is provided with a groove formed so as to prevent the chair or scaffold from rotary oscillation. This groove maintains the device in proper position to enable the operator to fasten the rope.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foregoing objects, and other objects, features and advantages appearing in the following detailed description, are achieved by providing a fitting for interposition between tackle and a boatswains chair or scaffold and which includes an elongated member or shank having an eye at one end for attachment to the tackle and a snap-hook at the other end for supporting through an eye, the chair or scafiold. This snap hook has a specially constructed groove for the purposes hereinabove outlined. Intermediate the ends of the elongated member or shank lateral arms or members extend in opposite directions, to each of which arms at the end thereof there is provided a vertical stop member. The lateral cross-members or arms are provided with reduced rounded portions where they join the shank to conform to the shape of the hoisting rope conventionally used with boatswains chairs and scaffolds. The vertical stop members prevent the rope from slipping ofi the fitting when the rope engages the cross-members or arms.

With respect to the transverse groove provided in the bight of the hook portion of the hook and cleat combination, this groove which is preferably formed in the general shape of an oval can be made wide in the center part of the hook and narrow in the outer parts of the hook, or the groove may be of uniform width from outer part to outer part including the center part of the hook and of uniform depth. As heretofore stated the transverse oval groove on the hook portion makes provision for the steel eyes of the standard scaffolds and the eyes of the boatswains chair disclosed in my saidcopending application, in which latter case the chair eyes are supported, respectively, snugly in the transverse oval groove, preventing possible right and left relative-movements of the chair and hook .and cleat combination, and making it easy for the operator 1 to fasten a rope to the cleat part and lowering of the book and cleat combination from turning to the right or e to the left and to maintain the device in proper position to enable the operator to fasten the rope.

It is still a further object of the present invention to so design the cleat portion of the combination to conform to the shape of the hoisting rope conventionally used on scaffolds, boatswains chairs or the like.

In hoisting equipment, such as boatswains chairs or scaffolds, the chair or scaffold is supported by tackle including a rope and block pulleys so that it may be conveniently raised or lowered. In such circumstances it is desirable to permit adjustment of the elevation of the chair or scafiold at the location of the chair or scaffold, and for this purpose the free end of the supporting rope is usually removably secured to a fitting attached to the the tackle may 'be adjusted or held in a fixed position. Since boatswains chairs or scaffolds are usually employed for work at relatively high or great heights, for example, in painting or repairing the masts of ships or in painting buildings and bridge structures, it is important that the chair or scaffold be held against rotary oscillation. For this purchair or scafiold.

In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, certain embodiments thereof are hereinafter described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and wherein: 5

Fig. l is a perspective view of a fitting includinga' snap-hook and cleat combination constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the snap-hook portion also showing a fragment of the cleat portion of the device;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the snap-hook portion of the device, the latch being removed for clarity;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the lower portion of the snap-hook and cleat combination, showing a modified hook in engagement with an eye; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the hook portion seen in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and initially to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, a fitting constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is there illustrated and generally identified by the reference numeral 10. The fitting 10 includes an elongated member or shank 11 having suitable means at its upper end for attachment to the rope or a pulley-block of tackle provided for supporting the fitting, and which in the illustrated construction consists of an eye or ring 12 having an opening 13 and which is integral With the shank 11. The shank 11, at its lower end, has depending from it an integral hook portion 11a, 11b and 11c, the latter indicating the bight of the hook. Intermediate the ends of the elongated or shank member 11, the lateral arms or cross-members 15 extend in opposite directions, to which of each arms at the end thereof there is provided a vertical stop member 14. The lateral cross-members or arms 15 are provided with reduced rounded portions where they join the shank 11 to accommodate the hoisting rope conventionally used with boatswains chairs and scaifolds. These reduced rounded portions 31 may be clearly seen in Fig. 4. The vertical stop members 14 prevent the rope from slipping off the fitting when the rope engages the crossr'nembers 15. A resilient or spring operated latch 17 is pivoted by means of a pin 18 to ears 16 projecting from the lower portion of shank 11 to form the movable part of the snap hook. A spring 19 encircles the pin 18 and has one end abutting against the latch 17 and its other end against the shank 11 between the ears 16. The upwardly extending end portion 21 of the hook portion of the fitting is provided with a substantially rectangular recess 20 which besides providing an accommodation for the tip of the latch 17 also provides shoulders 20a to protect the same from possible damage and to maintain the latch in proper position. The grooves 23, 24 are formed in the inner face 22 of the book.

As clearly seen in Fig. 2, the portion 11a of the hook member is preferably bowed outwardly to provide the necessary space for the accommodation of the eye of the article to be supported, such as eye 28 of Fig. 4, and also to bring the hook portion 11b into substantial alinement with the shank 11 and spring operated or snap latch 17.

The drawings show the transverse groove in the bight 110 of the hook member as being substantially ovalshaped, with the center portion 23 wider than the remaining portions 24, to accommodate eyes (used to connect boatswains chairs, scaffolds, etc., to the hookcleat combination) of different diameters. An eye of one diameter may fit snugly in the center portion 23 of the groove, whereas an eye of smaller diameter may fit snugly in the narrower groove portions 24, the purpose being to so snugly fit the eye in the groove so as to prevent relative right or left turning or sidewise swinging between the hook-cleat combination and the eye and/or article to which the eye is connected.

Figs. 4 and show the hook members 25, 26, with the spring-operated or snap-latch eliminated. In this embodiment it is preferable to provide an inwardly directed bend 27 at the free end of the hook to bring portion 26 into the juncture of shank 11 and the hook,

providing almost a closed hook. In this embodiment the eye 28 comprising the almost annular upper portion 29 and outward extending arms 30 will have to be threaded through the loop of the hook from its open end.

The eye 28 may form part of a boatswains chair assembly as disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 174,402, filed July 18', 1950 now abandoned, or it may form part (either in its identical form or in any other form or variation) of any article or device to connect the latter to the hook-cleat combination.

Furthermore, the hook device herein described may be employed separately from or as an independent unit for its intended purpose.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Hook and cleat combination for use with rope and tackle comprising an elongated shank member having means at one end for connection to the tackle and means at the other end for connection to an eye member, arms extending laterally from said elongated shank in opposite directions and intermediate the ends of said shank, elongated end members at the end of said arms extending substantially parallel to said shank, and a hook member extending from the lower end of said shank, said hook member having a transverse groove in the bight thereof for receiving said eye member, each of said arms having its portion adjacent said shank of reduced cross-section for receiving a turn of said rope and holding said turn adjacent to said shank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 47,719 Fox Aug. 17, 1915 206,657 Blakeslee Aug. 6, 1878 258,692 Barnes May 30, 1882 589,034 Schellhammer Aug. 31, 1897 701,332 Grigg June 3, 1902 756,418 Seyster Apr. 5, 1904 796,143 Nord Aug. 1, 1905 796,218 Jones Aug. 1, 1905 904,747 Anderson Nov. 24, 1908 1,032,935 Pehrson July 16, 1912 1,095,446 Axelson May 5, 1914 1,390,152 Miltner Sept. 6, 1921 2,245,878 Sorensen June 17, 1941 2,343,086 Schultz Feb. 29, 1944 2,486,276 Guy Oct. 25, 1949 

